The UP government denied allegations that the Taj was deliberately dropped from the booklet.

A tourism booklet released by the Uttar Pradesh government has stirred controversy as it has no mention of the iconic Taj Mahal, which is one of the major tourist attractions of the state.

The booklet, released by tourism minister Rita Bahuguna in Lucknow, features other heritage sites including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's Gorakhdham temple but has no mention about the seventh wonder of the world.

Denying that the Taj was deliberately dropped from the tourism booklet, the UP government asserted that the booklet mentions a number of projects that are being taken up to develop India's attraction.

Avneesh Awasthi, director general UP tourism, told TOI that it was not a compendium of tourist attractions in UP but merely a book highlight the works done by the incumbent government and the projects it plans to take up.

"There was no question of ignoring the Taj Mahal as it was one of India's biggest attractions," Bahuguna told TOI.

According to a report in TOI, two pages of the UP government's booklet has been dedicated to the Gorakhdham temple. While the booklet cover image is the famous Ganga aarti, the second page carries photgraphs of Adityanath and Bahuguna.

The developmental works on tourism also find mention in the booklet.

In June, Yogi Adityanath had criticised the tradition of presenting replicas of Taj Mahal to foreign dignitaries as "it doesn't represent the Indian culture". It irked the local population eliciting angry remarks from the tourism industry as well.